Railway electric signal apparatus



N M d 1. N e 0. GASSLTT.

i, RAILWAY ELECTRIC SIGNAL APPARATUS. J'" No. 267,979. `Patented.Nov. l21. 18:82..

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N. PETERS. PhulLixhognpher. washinglun. D. C.

PATENT (harten3 OSCAR GASSETT, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE UNION SWITCH AND SIGNAL COMPANY,

OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

" l RAILWAY ELECTRIC SIGNAL APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 267,979, dated November 21, 1882. Application tiled January 3, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OscAR GAssE'rT, of Boston, county of Suffolk, Stateof Massachusetts, temporarily residing at Sewickley, county of Allegheny, State Vof Pennsylvania, have invented or discovered a new and useful lmprovement in Railway Electric Signal Apparatus; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, concise, and exact description thereof', reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which-like letters indicating like parts- Figure 1 shows the electrical apparatus which I employ, arranged in connection with a diagram of a railway-track; and Figs. 2, 3,and 4 are detached views, "showing different positions of the electrical devices at different times during their operation. y

My present invention relates more particularly to an apparatus for electrically actuatin g the signals in a block signaling system of a single-track road, so that the signals will be properly actuated in whichever way the trains may be running. It involves a normallyclosed track-circuit at each end of the block, and each such track-circuit excites an electro-magnet, so as to close a circuit at the opposite end of the block, which latter circuit includes the signalin g-magnet which actuates the signal at that y, end ot' the block. The track-rails are insulated at the ends of the block, and also at or near the middle, and between insulated points they are electrically connected, rail end to rail end. Then the short-circuiting of either end section of track sends the signal at the other end of the block to dan ger.77 The track-block is formed by insulating material inserted at its ends, as at r r', and the block so formed is divided into two sections, R It', by like means, as at r2, at any desired point between the ends-say at or near the middle. The lefthand end track-circuit,No.l, is formed by battery a2, wire l1, track-rails m, wire 7, to post s4, wire 18, .to and through the coil of electro-magnet A'; thence by wire 19 to post s3,- thence by wire S and railsw' and wire l2 back to battery a2. This circuit being normally closed eX- cites the electro-magnet A', so as to canse it 5o to attract its armature A2, and the tail-piece VA3 thereof is brought against an electrical contact, D, so as thereby to close and keep closed a circuit, N o. 4, which, commencing from a battery, a', at the right-hand end of the block, `passes by wire 4 to and through the signaling- 55 magnet B', thence by wirelto post sa; thence by wire 16, contact D, tail-piece A3, wire 17 to post s", by wire 25 to post s, by wire 5 to trackrails x2, and by wire 3 back to battery a'. The signal at that end of the block, of any desired, 6o construction, is connected by suitable interposed devices with the signaling-magnet B', so that when excited it will hold the signal at "safety/5 butas such signals and intermediate connections suitable forsuch use are well known 6 5 in the art I have not thought it necessary to show them. Track-circuit N o. 2, at the righthand end of the block, commences from battery a, follows wire l, track-rails x2, wire 5, to binding post s6,- thence by wire 2() to and 7o through the coils of electro-magnet Awire 21,

to binding-post 85,- thence by wire 6, track-rails w3, and wire 2 back to battery a. This circuit normally closed excites electro-magnet A, so

as to cause it to attract its armature A4, and 7 thereby the tail-piece A5 of thelatter is brought against the adjustable contact D'. This forms a closed signaling-circuit for the other or lefthand end ofthe block, such circuit (N o., 3) starting from the battery a3 and following wire 14 8o to binding-post s'; thence by wire 23, contact D', tail-piece A5, wire 22, post s2, wire 24, post s3, wire 8, track-rails wire l0, to and through signaling-magnetB, and thence by wire 9 back to the-battery a3. By this means the magnet B is excited, and being supplied with a suitable signal and operating mechanism, as before described with reference to B', it holds its signal normally at safety."

Assuming, now, that atrain approaches from 9o the left, as indicated by arrow fw, its first effect on entering section R will be to short-circuit No. l circuit, so as to cutout electro-magnet A' from the influence of battery a2, release the armature A2, so that through the action of 9 5 retractile spring c the tail-piece A3 will break contact with D and go to insulated stop d, as indicated in Fig. 2. This will break circuit N o. 4, demagnetize signal-magnet B', which is included in that circuit, and let its signal go roo to "danger" under the inuence of a weight, spring, or otherlike means. Hence the moving train will be thereby protected as againsttrains coming from the opposite direction. As soon as the forward end of the moving train passes the insulating-point r2 it short-circuits No. 2 circuit, so as to cut out electro-magnet A from the influence of its battery a, with the result of releasing its armature A4, so that its tailpiece A5, under the influence of its spring c', will move away from its contact D', thus breaking circuit No. 3 and demagnetizing the signaling-magnet B,.which is included in said circuit, and letting its signal go to danger," in like manner as 'at B'. This signal will then protect the rear of the moving train as against trains following; but the tail-piece A5, instead of going to stop d', comes against the end of the tail-piece A3, previouslyT dropped, as indicated in Fig. 3. Each of these tail-pieces is provided with a hook, e e', so made and pro? portioned that the tail-piece which drops last will come, with its hook, outside the free end of the other. Thus in the case supposed the hook e' of the tail-piece A5 will come outside, so as to be in position to engage the free end of the tail-piece A3. With the devices in the position thus indicated the tail of the train will pass ott' of section It, with the result ot' restoring circuit No. 1, so as to re-excite magnet A' and cause it to attract its armature A3. In order, now, to prevent this action from restoring circuit No. 4 by making contact at D, and thereby setting the signal of magnet B' at safetyf' I use the hook e' of tail-piece A5 to lock the tail-piece A3, as indicated in Fig. 4. Hence the signals at both ends of the block will remain at "danger" until the moving u train shall haveI passed entirely off the block.

As soon as this happens circuit No. 2, through battery a, is restored` so as to again energize electro-magnet A, which then attracts its armature A4, swin gs back the tail-piece A5 to ,contact D', Fig. l, and in doing so causes its hook e' to clear the end ot' tail-piece A3, so that the latter may, under the action of its already energized magnet, go to its contact D. In this way circuits Nos. 3 and 4 are both restored, and the apparatus is again in normal condition and ready for thev reception of a train from either direction.

In case a train approaches from the right, the same actions take place, but in reverse order. The train rst runs onto section It', short-circuits No. 2 circuit, with the result of breaking circuit No. 3 at contact D', and letting the tail -piece A5 go to stop d', and putting the signal at B to a danger" position, so as to protect the moving train as against trains coming from the left. When the forward end of the moving train enters section R it short-circuits N 0.1 circuit, with the result of breaking circuit No. 4 at contact D and putting the signal atB' to a "danger" position,so as to protect the moving train as against trains following; but in this case the tail-piece A3, instead ot' going'to its stop d, as before, comes against the end of tail-piece A5, and with its hook e outside the end of A5, as illustrated by dotted lines in Fig. 4. Then when the train leaves section R' entirely and the magnetAis again energized by the restoration of circuit No. 2 the tail-piece A5 is locked by the hook e of tail-piece A3, so that it cannot go to contactD',and hence circuit No.3 remains broken and both signals are continued at dangerg" but as soon as the train leaves the block entirely circuit N o. 1 is restored, with the result of again energizing magnet A', and thereby bringing tail-piece A3 to contact D and unlocking tail-piece A5, so that it may go to contact and the signals again go to their normal position ot' safety." The presence of a car on either section, or the breaking of arail, will shortcircuit the corresponding section and send one or the other signals to danger, so that if an nal at danger he will know that the track ahead of him is occupied, or else that it is unsafe. Y

The post s3 and wire 24 may be omitted,and the wire 22 go to post s3; also, the post s7 and wire 25 may be omitted,and wire 17 go to post s3. j

In a separate lapplication filed herewith I have provided for doing substantially the same work as herein described by means of a fifth circuit through a relay so organized that such fifth circuit does the work of restoring the apparatus to'normal condition, and such use of a relay is not included herein.

I claim herein as my invention-.

An electrical block signaling apparatus adapted to be operated by a train running in .either direction, having in combination a normally-closed track-circuit at or near each end ot' the block,each such track-circuit including an electro-magnet arranged to open and close a circuit extending to the opposite end of the block, a signal-magnet in each such latter circuit, and a locking mechanism adapted to prevent the reclosing of one broken signal-circuit until the proper time for the reclosing of both, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

OSCAR GASSETT.

D'. All circuits are thereby restored or closed, 1

engineer in approaching a block nds the sig- IOO IIO

IIS 

